1. Field
The present invention relates to the field of electronic commerce. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for permitting a purchaser to view a product over a network before making a purchase decision.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic commerce, fueled by the proliferation of the Internet and the World Wide Web, has emerged as a viable means of offering consumer products for purchase. For example, numerous vehicle dealerships provide web sites which a potential purchaser can access to obtain dealer and product information. The purchaser is able to view representative vehicle photographs. But, the conventional web site is unlikely to have available a photograph of every vehicle configuration. Likewise, the conventional web site does not contain photographs of every product configuration. Thus, conventional electronic commerce systems currently facilitate a pay-before-you-see sales environment because the purchaser generally is encouraged to make a purchasing decision before having viewed the desired product configuration.
Having made a purchasing decision, the purchaser next visits a dealership offering the desired vehicle make for sale. The conventional dealership generally maintains a limited number of vehicles in its inventory. The inventory does not include every configuration of every offered vehicle. For example, the dealer may not physically have a vehicle in every available color for the purchaser to view before making a purchasing decision. If the dealer does not have the vehicle in the color desired by the purchaser, the dealer may be able to present the purchaser with a brochure illustrating the vehicle in the desired color. Otherwise, the purchaser may have to finalize the purchasing decision without viewing the vehicle in the desired color or the purchaser may try to find another dealership which has the desired vehicle in the desired color. Thus, if the desired vehicle configuration is not currently in the dealer's inventory, the purchaser experiences frustration and the possibility of finalizing the purchasing decision without viewing the exact product.
Furthermore, the conventional dealership generally offers a variety of dealer vehicle options or aftermarket products for purchase. The potential purchaser can view the vehicle option or aftermarket product. In rare circumstances, the purchaser may be fortunate to view a vehicle which has the desired option or aftermarket product installed in or on the vehicle. Generally though, the purchaser is unlikely to find the exact vehicle configuration, the desired vehicle with the exact options and aftermarket products installed, to view before making the purchasing decision. If the purchaser wants to see how the vehicle would look with the option or aftermarket product installed, the purchaser would likely be limited to viewing a photograph in a product brochure. Again, the purchaser may well have to finalize the purchasing decision before viewing the actual item being purchased.
Certain internet web sites offer purchasers the opportunity to compare various products. For example, a potential purchaser can obtain an illustrative photograph and product description regarding a specific vehicle. The purchaser is able to obtain this type of information for various makes and models of vehicles. Once the information is gathered, the purchaser is able to perform a comparison of the vehicles by noting differences and similarities in the various photographs and product descriptions. Having selected a specific vehicle, the purchaser may then visit the dealership in the hopes of actually viewing the various vehicle configurations being considered by the purchaser. Because the dealership is unlikely to have all the different configurations of the vehicles considered, the purchaser is unlikely to be able to perform an actual side-by-side comparison. Here again, the purchaser will have to make a pay-before-you-see purchasing decision.
Thus, current electronic commerce systems, as well as conventional dealerships, fail to provide potential purchasers an environment in which the purchaser can make adequately informed purchasing decisions. The purchaser is frustrated because the purchasing decision often occurs before having an opportunity to view the desired product configuration. Conversely, there is added cost to the dealership because of the attention needed to accommodate the purchaser's request to see various configurations of vehicles and the need to maintain increased product inventories in hopes of reducing purchaser frustration.